Don't Mess With The Metro

Pittsburgh Penguins

Outlook: After winning back to back Stanley Cups you could imagine how this would go for the Penguins. Their best prospect (excluded from this list), you may have heard of him, Jake Guentzel probably should have won the Conn Smythe this past playoffs. Derrick Pouliot is another guy not included on this list due to his minor contributions to the 2017 cup winners, Derrick should have a bigger role this year. Besides Guentzel and Pouliot however, it’s poor to put it bluntly. Daniel Sprong is the lone bright spot here, he has lit up the Q for 4 years however in 18 NHL games he looked lost with only 2 goals to show for them. Goaltending doesn’t look like an issue however it’s not a strength, with Matt Murray already in net for the foreseeable future this is not the biggest worry. Tristan Jarry had a great Junior career with the Oil Kings yet has been average in Scranton and has yet to get a lengthy stint with the big club. Filip Gustavsson is a long way away however to this point his development is where he should be yet has not showcased anything above or below average. Zach Aston Reese and Lukas Bengtsson are both Undrafted Free Agents added in the past 12 months, while neither project as a superstar both should be above average depth players. Zachary Lauzon was the Pens top draft pick in 2017 (51st Overall 2nd Round) yet Defenders in the Q do not carry great reps defensively.

Daniel Sprong

Right Wing

46th Overall 2nd Round (2015)

Top 6 Winger

2017/18 Season

Ilya Kovalchuk (KHL/SKA)

7.7

Filip Gustavsson

Goalie

55th Overall 2nd Round (2016)

NHL Starter

2020/21 Season

Tim Thomas (Retired/DAL)

7.5

Zach Aston Reese

Center/Right Wing

Undrafted (Signed Free Agent)

3rd Line Center

Mid 2017/18 Season

Zach Hyman (TML)

7.4

Tristan Jarry 

Goalie

44th Overall 2nd Round (2013)

NHL Fringe Starter

2018/19 Season

Carey Price (MTL)

7.4

Lukas Bengtsson

Defense

Undrafted (Signed Free Agent)

Top 6 Defense

2018/19 Season

Sami Vatanen (ANA)

7.3

Introducing our very own prospect rankings, each Metro division team will receive their own top 5 rankings and after we have released each top 5 we will release a Metro division top 25 prospects list. Prospects will be described by the following and ranked by the final category “prospect rating” which is made up of projected success, projected ceiling, success in the development leagues, and likelihood of success (For scaling Connor McDavid would be a 9.9, Victor Hedman a 9.3, Mika Zibanejad an 8.5, Travis Hamonic a 7.7, Oscar Lindberg a 6.9 and Matt Martin a 5.5. The category “player comparison” is based on similarity in player type not general talent (Ex: Gabriel Carlsson could be compared to the player Marc Staal was before the eye injury not the trainwreck he is today (Please no crying CBJ fans) or Julien Gauthier being compared to Rick Nash does not mean he is going to score 40 goals one year and then miss an empty net in a SCF the next). 

Position

Draft Position

Player Ceiling

Player Comparison

Estimated Arrival Time

Prospect Rating

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